


dusk (a breath away)

by nickelsissocool



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Drabble, Gen, M/M, POV Dean Winchester, Post Sacrifice, Pre-Slash, Unresolved Sexual Tension, human!Cas, like reallllly unresolved tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-29
Updated: 2013-07-29
Packaged: 2017-12-21 16:51:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/902615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nickelsissocool/pseuds/nickelsissocool
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-8x23. Dean will always remember this moment, how it stretched on forever, electric and tense. And Dean will remember Cas, both of them falling towards the edge of something new.</p>
            </blockquote>





	dusk (a breath away)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my awesome beta, SH. Your kind words and careful eye were so helpful, as always!  
> This is a stand-alone drabble.  
> Based on this [fanart](http://nickelsissocool.tumblr.com/post/49561231223), please check it out! :)

Excuses given, Dean dragged Cas out of the bunker, to the Impala, and away they went.

Dean drives for hours with no particular destination in mind, just drives and drives with the warm feeling of Cas watching him the only thing filling the silence. The idea of returning the gaze makes Dean nervous, so he ignores the pull of Cas’ eyes on him and keeps his eyes firmly on the road this time.

Around sundown Dean feels he has reached a good place to stop, although he doesn’t know why, and he pulls the car over beside a wooden fence lining the backroad. They both get out of the car without speaking, and Cas wanders over to the fence, looking around slowly, almost like he is cataloging each and every detail of this place. He turns and leans his back against the fence surveying the road and the sunset, which is staining the sky ahead of him.

Dean watches him out of the corner of his eye; not knowing what he is waiting for, or if he was even waiting for something. But he sees Cas wringing his hands, a touch of desperation gnawing at his expression; and he looks so small, so human. Before he knows what is compelling him, Dean is sighing and joining Cas, his back against the fence and looking out on the road and darkening sky.

And then they just stand there, side to side, observing the dusk deepening from a bright, shiny gold tinged with azure, to a burnt, rosy, and orange glow. And despite the cooler night breeze, Dean feels the thrum of electricity buzzing under his skin keeping him almost uncomfortably warm.

From Dean’s left, he hears Cas give out a small huff in what could almost be an aborted chuckle. “You know,” Cas starts, “after all those millennia of watching life here on Earth, I don’t know how to actually _live_.” Dean risks a quick look to the side and catches Cas already looking at him expectantly.

Dean gives his head a little shake, “Well, that’s no different than most of us.”

Cas opens his mouth but there are no words. He tries again, “Dean, I want…” He stops shortly as his eyes drop suddenly, and there is a sharp yank in Dean’s gut. “Dean, I have observed Man get the things that he wants. These are what he finds great happiness in,” Cas looks up again, “How does one ask for what they want, even if they don’t believe it is deserved?”

And it is like he is falling, dragged by the entire weight of _this_ , the feeling that has been pulling between them all this time, thrumming between them when their eyes catch for too long or when they stand too close; and there’s Cas, just an inch too close in Dean’s space. And damn if Dean isn’t meeting him more than halfway and leaning into it – their shoulders bumping and noses a hair’s breadth apart, almost nudging. Dean’s body is swaying from indecision as his head tilts down, unsure of where to look, breathing hard, his senses flooded with the clarity of the moment, the beating of _want_ and _finally_ pounding in his blood. And Cas is standing, oh so still, but Dean can feel Cas breathing faster and shorter.

“Cas,” and Dean is more shocked to hear his voice at all, let alone how wrecked and utterly _desperate_ he sounds, “Cas, buddy, you just _ask_.” Dean is begging, he knows it, but he’s been doing that for Cas for a while now.

“ _Dean_.” And Cas sounds so wrecked too, and he’s begging for the same thing Dean is, and Dean wants to yell because this is where they have both been for a while now, asking, no, praying for something, but too afraid to put words to the actual thing.

And the moment is balancing on the edge of a knife, stretching and stretching, lasting for what feels like forever. Dean doesn’t know how long they stand there, just like that, just a breath away.

By the time the moment ends and they pull away – and maybe it’s one of them, or maybe both, Dean’s not sure which – the sky is shot through somewhere between indigo and navy, too overcast to see much in the way of stars or moon. Cas clears his throat, looking away, and walks back to the Impala, getting inside the passenger seat, waiting. Dean exhales softly, collects himself, and walks back to the car.

Dean slides in, hand already going to the key in the ignition, when he hears “Dean.” He glances over at Cas looking ahead at the road and sees a tentative smile spreading on Cas’ face as Cas turns to face Dean again. And Dean hears it, what Cas is actually saying; he actually hears it. And suddenly Dean is smiling too, in giddy way that he hasn’t smiled like in years, replying to the unspoken question. And it feels like for the first time, his prayers have been answered.


End file.
